UPDATED w/new question at the bottom.....What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

So, I work PT and am home with DD 2 days/week. The other 3 days she is in daycare (everyother week, my MIL watches her one day). She is 7 months old and been on solids for 1 month. Right now, they do not replace any meals as she gets maybe a tablespoon of cereal in the morning and a tablespoon of a fruit or veggie in the afternoon as we go through all the fruits and veggies to make sure she isn't allergic to anything. Anyway, everyday I pick her up at daycare they tell me she LOVES to eat and she gobbles up her cereal and her fruit or veggie. On the days she is home it is a STRUGGLE to get her to eat 2 spoonfuls.

I don't follow daycares schedule at home because, well... quite frankly, other than eating time, there is no schedule at daycare since she refuses to nap there. At home, her naps are scheduled naps so her bottles/food are given around her naps.

I'm starting to get really frustrated because she is really only getting her solids 3 days a week since I really don't want to force the eating on her. I know it's only for practice now, but I need her to practice so when she is ready for "real" meals, it's not a struggle.

Anyone have any ideas/suggestions?

TIA!

Message edited 9/9/2009 3:54:35 PM.

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

Hmm. I wonder why she is eating them there. Did you ask them how they prepare it and offer it to her?

DD eats breakfast and dinner and ALOT of it. She gets 3 or 4 tablespoons of oatmeal in the am and 3 cubes of fruit plus whats left of the 6oz bottle (I use some to make the oatmeal)

For dinner she gets 3 or 4 cubes of veggie with some mixed grain cereal mixed in.

She is getting 4 bottles a day at this point and I probably could drop to 3 soon but I think it may be too early.

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

I actually prepare everything for them, so I don't think it's in the prep.

I'm going to have to ask on Tuesday, how she is when they feed her

At home, I give her the cereal when she wakes up, before her bottle. I figure she's hungry when she wakes up so it's a good time for the cereal. She clamps her mouth shut tightly. I usually give her the fruit or veggie either in the afternoon (around 1ish) if we are home and not out running around. Otherwise she gets it after her afternoon nap (around 5/5:30)

At daycare she gets her cereal at 10 am (but at home she's napping at that time) And her fruit/veggie at 1:00

She's still on 5 bottles a day, but I'm going to be cutting her down to 4 bottles a day. The same amout of ounces per day, but just combined into 4 bottles rather than 5. I automatically feed her every 3 hours, but I know she can go 4 or even 5 between bottles.

ETA: She's also very picky about who feeds her. At daycare out of the 3 teachers in the room, there is only one teacher she allow to feed her, (not even her primary), once in a while there is another one. But there is one there that she will REFUSE to let feed her.

Message edited 9/4/2009 8:26:28 AM.

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

Are they feeding her in a different kind of chair? Do they give her toys to distract her?

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

It seems that she is not hungry for the cereal when she first wakes up at home...so maybe that' why she's not eating it at home, but by 10, he is hungry for it and she will eat it for them. Maybe try changing the schedule around at home for the solids...you might get a better result. Also, if she is still taking the same amount of bottles as before you started the solids, she might not have room in her little belly for more. If you cut down the amout of formula, she will have room for the fruits/veggies.

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

It might be because she is around other children at daycare and sees that they are all eating and kids like to copy each other.

I know when my DS is with my niece and nephew and they are all eating or if we eat with him, he eats much more than if he is eating alone and I am feeding him.

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

it may be the consistency of the cereal if you premake it.... i find that the longer it sits with formula the thicker it gets... the longer it sits with bm the thinner it gets

Re: What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated ...

Thanks everyone. I'm offering her food the same way daycare does. They tell me that she willingly takes the food, which I find REALLY hard to believe given how she is at home.

Is it possible for a 7 month old to NOT be interested in food yet? From my observations, she really could care less about the food. She doesn't pay any attention to when DH and I eat in front of her. She doesn't try to take food from us. She also basically ignores me when I try to feed her. I have literally tried everything.

I'm planning on calling the ped tomorrow, but at this age, there really is no nutrionial value to eating solids right? She still takes close to 30oz of formula a day. Some days less, but never more.

I really don't want to force solids on her because I don't want her to dislike meal time and associate it with a "bad" time. KWIM?

Thanks!

Re: UPDATED w/new question at the bottom.....What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

OMG,

This same thing happened to us. At Daycare she’d clean out that container of fruit/veggie or cereal (or mixed). I couldn’t get her to get more than half way through at home.

I asked the lady in daycare what her secret was. She said ALL the babies did that to her. Meaning they’d eat better at daycare than home. I even watched through the window a few times and AJ just gobbled it up and she did nothing really different.

All I could see was the angle of the spoon, I was going sideways in and daycare was going straight.

Since I knew she’d only eat ‘some’ with me at home I made those spoonfuls bigger in the first few bites so I could get it in while she was willing!

She is now a year old and still eats better at daycare but now its table foods she eats better there than home. I guess it really is something to do with the fact they are surrounded by ‘peers’ and its just a different environment.

Re: UPDATED w/new question at the bottom.....What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

You know what....my Three and a half year old son eats EVERYTHING they give him at daycare, at home, only eats a few things.

If she seems happy and is thriving, I say don't worry too much about it. But then again, I don't worry too much about anything really...

Re: UPDATED w/new question at the bottom.....What am I doing wrong? So Frustrated...

Hey Michelle! First off, just remember all babies develop at different rates and it seems your angel...just like mine, are more stubborn when it comes to one thing or the next...that being said, trying different methods first is always helpful and if that doesn't work, ask your ped or just wait for her to be interested...since we are pretty much at the same age with our girls, here are some suggestions to try before throwing in the towel...first I would definitely reduce how often you feed her, for if she is too full then she will refuse the food all together..G is on the big side when it comes to babies her size(90th percentile ) and she still seems like she eats a little less than your lil mama, so right there might be the culprit is that she doesn't want the extra calories..Also, our ped says its best to offer food a half hour to an hour after milk so it doesn't take away from their next feeding...here is G's schedule which after lots of tweaking seems to work for her age and her size:

8am breast feed ~5-7oz i think
930am 1tbs cereal and 1 tbs of fruit
1145am 7oz bottle
Nap right after
3:15pm 7oz bottle
Nap right after
As soon as she wakes up 2nd meal of cereal and fruit
700pm 7oz bottle
730 Bed

She doesn't always drink all of her bottle yet, but we offer it since sometimes she does...also we haven't added the afternoon meal yet since we are still checking for allergies...I have the schedule that my ped recommends for kids and so far it has been working out well...if you want I can mail it to you or fax it to you if interested...also like the others girls said, keeping her on the same daily sched as much as possible is the best way to approach it..but being working moms ofcourse, we have to just do the best we can with what we have to work with....I'm sure everything will be fine and she will be eating like a champ in no time...good luck and keep us posted on your little stubborn angel...gotta love these strong-willed girls!!